


Vestige

by notjustmom



Series: Words, Words, Words [240]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M, established relationship if you squint, just a bit of Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-12
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-08 08:20:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7750315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustmom/pseuds/notjustmom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>vestige: noun: VESS-tij: a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (such as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost</p><p>from Merriam - Webster:</p><p>"Vestige is derived via Middle French from the Latin noun vestigium, meaning "footstep, footprint, or track." Like trace and track, vestige can refer to a perceptible sign made by something that has now passed. Of the three words, vestige is the most likely to apply to a tangible reminder, such as a fragment or remnant of what is past and gone. Trace, on the other hand, may suggest any line, mark, or discernible effect ("the snowfield is pockmarked with the traces of caribou"). Track implies a continuous line that can be followed ("the fossilized tracks of dinosaurs")."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vestige

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scrub456](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrub456/gifts).



> for καρδιά μου.

It was a vestige of his life from before Sherlock. It was never stored properly, binned, or given away. It leaned against the wall next to the fireplace, just in case. They never commented on it. Once in a while, Sherlock got it out for John when it was a bad day. They never commented on those days, and the cane went back in its place when it was no longer needed.

The day he buried Sherlock, he ignored it. Even when the limp made it nearly impossible to make it down the stairs, he ignored it. Eventually, he learned to walk with the limp, it became part of him. No one commented on it.

The day Sherlock returned, half dead on their doorstep, John put down his bags of shopping, even though it was raining, and lifted his friend into his arms, pushing the door open with his foot and carried him up the seventeen steps. He laid him on the couch, went back down for the tea, milk and bread and single malt that he definitely could not do without, calmly put them away, and realised his limp had vanished again.

He never commented on it.


End file.
